The open border policy is not only allowing deadly drugs and criminal gangs to enter the United States but also facilitating the resurgence of a silent killer: tuberculosis. While the U.S. was once close to eradicating TB, the disease is making a comeback, driven by the influx of migrants from countries where TB is prevalent.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported a staggering 34% increase in TB cases between 2020 and 2023. More than three-quarters of these cases were diagnosed in foreign-born individuals who contracted the disease in their home countries or during travel through areas with high TB rates.
The situation is particularly alarming in New York City, the top destination for migrants. The city’s TB incidence rate is 2.5 times the national average, and a staggering 89% of TB patients in the Big Apple are foreign-born. The Flushing/Clearview areas of Queens, Sunset Park, Brooklyn, and the Lower East Side of Manhattan are the neighborhoods most severely affected. China, according to the city’s latest Annual Tuberculosis Summary, has the highest number of reported TB cases among foreign-born individuals.
TB, now overtaking COVID-19 as the world’s biggest infectious disease killer, is no laughing matter. While there’s no effective vaccine for TB, most cases, excluding those with severe drug resistance, are treatable with antibiotics, but they must be taken daily for several months or longer, making adherence challenging.
Western Europe, Scandinavia, and North America are all experiencing rising TB rates, as migrants from less developed countries, where TB is prevalent, arrive. The UK health authorities are warning the public about the characteristic cough associated with TB. Meanwhile, public health authorities in Europe are engaged in intense discussions about affordable screening methods to identify TB carriers and prevent them from infecting the local population.
TB can remain dormant for years before manifesting in active, highly contagious form, spreading through coughing and sneezing. The CDC’s focus on health equity and resource allocation to disproportionately affected groups is commendable, but it’s imperative to prioritize shielding Americans from the reemergence of this once-controlled disease.
Individuals who enter the country legally and apply for green cards undergo TB screening with the interferon-gamma release assay test. Latent TB carriers are allowed entry and referred to local health departments for follow-up treatment, although this system is voluntary and inconsistent. However, migrants crossing the border illegally or entering using the Biden administration’s new parole app are not screened at all.
The CDC’s silence on screening and isolation measures before infected individuals spread the disease across the country is concerning. The agency seems to have forgotten its “Control and Prevention” mission.
The case of a Chinese migrant with active drug-resistant TB who crossed the border illegally in April highlights the dire consequences of inaction. Despite her symptoms worsening and being diagnosed on July 23, she was not isolated. Instead, she was moved between immigration processing facilities in California and Louisiana, potentially exposing hundreds of people. Now, Louisiana is taking legal action against federal authorities to detain exposed migrants until they are medically cleared.
Thousands of unaccompanied minors with latent TB are being released into communities across the country instead of being kept in Health and Human Services shelters for the extended period required for antibiotic treatment. The CDC data reveals a staggering 42% increase in TB incidence among children aged 5-14 within a year.
On November 1, Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) demanded that Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas implement measures to prevent a disease invasion, warning that TB is spreading rapidly through the millions of unscreened illegal immigrants released into the U.S. While the number of reported TB cases this year is just under 10,000, the trend is deeply worrisome.
The U.S. fought a successful war against TB in the 20th century. Americans shouldn’t have to surrender to this disease because of open borders.
